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Forge, forge, forge

Do you "need" to go first?, Do you favor your pilot action cards? Are you constantly low on ground figures and the cheese to reinforce them?

For Me, the answer is a resounding yes. It took me long enough to realize the obvious solution, that i thought i might share it with ya. I call the strategy, "Forge,forge, forge." Sounds obvious, right? Heres how it works.

When setting tilt for the first round of the game, do not set your birds to launch position, or at least not all of your birds. Then spend the round forging with every available unit, including perched birds. There is no quick way to attack the home tree in round one, so you'll basically be safe. If you positioned correctly you'll be lined up to swoop attack any newly placed units from a siege next turn, with plenty of cheese to spend for initiative. In the rounds to follow those perched birds with detour invasion from both air and ground because they can quickly point the direction of any threat when they enter launch position at round start. You can't do this trick forever, but perching and spending a round forging with every available unit is a quick way to fill the cheese wheel.

Things to remember:
•you can only have 6 cheese at a time, it is likely you'll have more units than space for cheese on the wheel.
•forge with the least likely figure to be needed in combat before forging with others, they should be obvious.
•use your forging to by time while you wait for your enemy to move into a more vulnerable position.
•Do not forge when you should be fighting. Occasionally you might absolutely need to forge for the cheese to play iron spurs next turn or something, but usually its best to focus on the fight when units are in danger.
•be careful, this strategy is obvious, and your enemy will look for you to give up key activations forging, so they can assault you without retaliation.

The problem with this is that by holding back units you end up allowing your opponent to execute missions, gain a positional advantage, and possibly even an initiative advantage. The way I see it, this turtling results in allowing making you play a defensive game. Even if you have cheese, you may not have the advantage. I like the idea of dedicated foragers better. Use one squad to forage, instead of execute missions, etc. But the birds need to be up in the air.

I've tried playing the defensive game, preferring to see what my opponent is going to do and then countering it as best I can, forcing them to loose forces. problem is that you can never truly predict the dice when your enemy attacks your home tree. and since they can attack the nest, and not the defenders, they can gain a severe advantage real quick if your defenders cannot take out invading forces. so, in TF I have switched to a combination of deception and interception, forcing a chess match with my opponent.

I tried (failingly, appearantly) too warn of these weaknesses in my initial post. It is true this is not a stratagy to hide behind. It should only be used now and then to fill the cheese wheel, most oftenly in round one for a quick stash of cheese to start the game with.

I personally think that's an option players can exercise and I have no issue with it. However, I do want to note that if this DOES become a problem for any particular play group, Foraging is an optional rule, and you can remove it if you wish.

Personally, I'd rather get my Birds into the action or into position, rather than forage with them while grounded. However, using a squad unit to forage early is a pretty good option, given there are many times they can't act in a round due to range.

I feel i should point out that i mainly use this strategy with the Vermin Raiders. I agree whole heartedly that without sending your birds into the air you are crippling yourself. The reason i hold a bird or two back a round is more than just cheese greed.

It's my opinion that the mice are faster, more maneuverable and have the advantage when the fight is ranged, both by ground as well as air. I have yet to see any first round melee combat, and what combat i do see, is usually Snibble ranged assaulting one or two of my rat pilots (i'm sure this is not the case for everyone). By holding one or two of my birds back a round, i avoid getting rattled early and allow the mice pilots to commit to where they're flying, then i look for weak points in our formations. It could be multiple things. Sometimes the enemy is clustered together and combat with one will likely to interfere with the others via tail feathers and figures blocking line of sight etc. Sometime they spread out too far allowing you to single a bird out. Quite often an end of the round leaf blitz drifts right past enemy birds in the final phase moving safely out reach. I "Forge, Forge, Forge" the first round (forging with all but a few key bird/pilot units) then i have a bird or two ready in round 2 to pivot and take off in whatever direction i determine is most advantageous.

There are many wonderful strategies the rats can use to overcome their differences with their mice cousins. i favor the ones that involve limiting the amount of ranged attacks the mice can attempt, like using death spirals to block line of sight, and using flog, battle wind, and soar to close in from out side of range.

I acknowledge "Forge, Forge, Forge" is not required to beat the mice, and the rats have several advantages of their own. I simple like it because it starts me out with the cheese i need to perform my favorite pilot actions early without sacrificing my ability to compete for first turn, and at the same time, minimizes the amount of first round regret i experience. Some people may tire of an opponent who uses this strategy often, but playing a strategy that doesn't rely on forging for cheese, and always going first (there are plenty) will be equally as frustrating for those giving up full activations for a cheese.

I don't mean to seem so defensive of this strategy. Responses have seemed so negative that i just want to encourage people not to simply disregard it. Wether you find a strategy flawed, or frustrating, or irrelevant, exploring it for yourself can greatly strengthen your ability to form complex tactics your opponent wont expect. So mix it up, try new stuff, i'd love to read what you come up with.